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    New video driver affects fans?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by TheOxman, Dec 13, 2010.

  1. TheOxman

    TheOxman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I got my M17x-R2 in May of this year. Last week I formatted the drive and restored it to its factory settings (using the DataSafe Local Backup). A couple of days ago, I realized that I should update my video drivers (ATI Mobility Radeon 5870). The upgrade went without a hitch. However, ever since then, it seems that my cooling fans run longer and louder when I'm playing games (Like WoW and Everquest 2) than they did before. On a side note, my FPS in WoW before upgrading the drivers hovered around 15-18fps. Dismal. After the upgrade to the drivers, my fps stays pretty much at 60fps.

    So, what I'm wondering, is if the updated drivers are what caused my fans to be on more and for longer periods of time?
     
    TheOxman, Dec 13, 2010
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  2. ViolentSeizure

    ViolentSeizure Notebook Enthusiast

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    Maybe before hand your Video Cards weren't running at 100%, now that they are they are generating more heat so the fans have become more noticeable.
     
    ViolentSeizure, Dec 13, 2010
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  3. SpideRMaN-17

    SpideRMaN-17 Notebook Consultant

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    maybe cos you moved from 15 to 60 FPS ;)
     
    SpideRMaN-17, Dec 13, 2010
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  4. Greywolf22

    Greywolf22 Notebook Deity

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    Yeah, I also noticed that the new video drivers (10.11) run significantly better with wow (around 60fps) vs the older (10.3) drivers that run wow on my rig around 27-30fps. So I would agree that the fans run longer because WoW is able to maintain better frame rates.

    I just turn up my headphones more, can't hear it...not a problem... ;)
     
    Greywolf22, Dec 13, 2010
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  5. TheOxman

    TheOxman Notebook Enthusiast

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    Awesome! Heh, I was worrying that perhaps the video card was overheating too much since I had never noticed the fans being on so much or as loud as they seem to be now. But, if that's normal, then I'm not going to worry because I'm loving the better framerates. Thanks everyone!
     
    TheOxman, Dec 13, 2010
    #5